


Back to you (In your arms, I'm home)

by drmrs



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: And titles, F/M, MY summary sucks i know, Oliver asks Felicity out on the first post-Lian Yu date, but how do people write summaries really, can't come up with those either, season 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2019-01-16 13:29:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12343617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drmrs/pseuds/drmrs
Summary: Oliver is done waiting.





	Back to you (In your arms, I'm home)

Oliver knows he should leave.

He has had a long day and an even longer week. Ever since he’d return to Starling, he’s had to attend more meetings than usual at City Hall as they continued to deal with the aftermath of Chase’s discreditation. His nights had been wholly uneventful with days of chasing down leads that turned out to be nothing but dead ends. It didn’t help matters that while he’s trying to form a relationship with his son, William seems to have the exact opposite in mind and wants nothing to do with him.

It’s safe to say he’s thoroughly exhausted and frustrated.

Today had been no different from the rest of the week except he’s ended up bloodied when a thug had managed to get a swipe at him. Oliver had been prepared to pursue the man even though he knew that the guy had no useful information. The constant lack of viable leads had dwindled his patience and he’d desperately needed an outlet. Though, his plan had been shot to hell when his team intercepted and insisted that he should head home and get some sleep. He didn’t have the energy to argue and one look at Digg was all it took to know he would’ve lost anyway.

He’d headed to the bunker and had briefly entertained the idea of getting in a workout before the events of the past week caught up to him and bone-deep weariness overwhelmed him. He’d change out of his suit mechanically as he contemplated the idea of just sleeping in the bunker. He has an early meeting scheduled at 8 and driving back to the loft he shared with Thea felt like a waste of time. He knows he’d be able to get a solid couple hours of sleep considering how tired he feels.

Having made his decision, he stepped out of the washroom and had fully intended to just crash on the cot when he spotted her.

_Felicity._

He pauses halfway across the bunker, pivoting in place as he opts to watch her.

She’s seated at her command center, her head perched on her left hand as she works. If the fact that she hasn’t noticed him yet wasn’t enough of an indication, the way she’s biting her lip and her forehead is creasing lets him know she’s engrossed with whatever she’s working on. He savors the sight of her and catalogs all the details – from the still healing cuts on her face to the prominent dark circles under her eyes. She looks as exhausted as he feels.

And – _god_ – so damned beautiful, it still renders him speechless.

He spends the next couple of seconds just watching her as everything else falls away. He knows the rest of the team has gone home and the idea of leaving her to work alone – even though he’d just be a couple of feet away – doesn’t settle well with him. Suddenly, sleep could wait.

“Felicity?”

She startles and turns around in her chair, her hand flying to rest over her heart. Her gaze lands on him and he offers her a small smile.

“Oliver! Hi. I didn’t realize you were still here,” she says as she gets up from her chair and starts to make her way to him. He moves unconsciously up the steps to the landing and across, meeting her halfway.

“I was just about to call it a night. What are you still doing here?”

“I’m trying to find leads on that pesky arms dealer,” she gestures vaguely to her computers as her eyes roam over him, undoubtedly checking for injuries the way she always does after a mission. He sucks in a deep breath to tide over the sudden wave of affection he feels for her and resists the urge to just lean down and kiss her.

Whatever little self-control he managed to summon is instantly rendered useless when she takes a step closer, her hand curling around his bicep.

“How’s your arm?” she asks. It takes him a moment to realize that she’s talking about the cut on his left bicep from where the thug had slashed him. But even then, all he could focus on was the feeling of her fingers on his skin, a look of concern on her face that makes him question yet again how he’d gotten so damned lucky to have her in his life.

It’s been almost two weeks since Lian Yu had exploded. The hours it had taken him to find her and everyone he ever cared about had been the longest in his life. It had been worse than the most horrible torture he’d been subjected to as he aimlessly searched what’s left of the island for any signs of life. He had seen her first – the peek of blonde hair amidst the fire burning red – and he’d tripped over himself trying to get to her.

It’s been almost two weeks and their relationship has been at a standstill.

Felicity telling him that she wasn’t done with them – _with him_ – had been everything he had hoped for since they’d broken up. When she had kissed him on Lian Yu, it had been unexpected and he had been on a one track mind about making sure everyone was safe that he hadn’t been able to fully appreciate tasting her again for the first time in months.

When he’d been reunited with everyone, he hadn’t had the opportunity to do anything more than hold her close. She’d held his hand the whole way back to Starling but the adrenaline and fear coursing through him had set him too far on edge to do anything more.

And now, here they were, two weeks later. His demeanor has shifted to the one of before - where he'd touch her freely and hadn't made a conscientious effort to keep a safe distance between them - but he hasn't made a move to take their relationship any further. He’s been swamped with his mayoral duties, cleaning up the city as the arrow and trying to establish a new normal with William that he hasn’t had the opportunity to talk to her.

But, god, does he want nothing more than to have her back in his life the way she used to be. It’s all he can think about.

He misses her and craves to be with her with such vehemence that it’d render him numb on some days. Spending those arduous months without her – trying to reduce their contact to the minimum and trying to move on – had just confirmed to him what he had already known.

Felicity Smoak was his entire world and he isn’t sure he could survive trying to pretend otherwise again.

But he’s still utterly terrified of messing it up - of asking too much from her far too fast. Although he wants nothing more than to follow her lead and give her all the time she needs to come back to him, he can’t even begin to comprehend how to take it one step at a time. Even months after she’d left him, it had taken all his willpower to just not touch her.

“Oliver?” Felicity murmurs, her hand squeezing him slightly, “Where’d you go?”

He looks down at her. She’s so close that he could feel the heat radiating off of her and smell the faint scent of her perfume that has faded after the long day. Wisps of hair are framing her face from where they’ve fallen out of her ponytail and he has to resist the urge to brush it out of her face.

And suddenly he couldn’t wait anymore.

He knows that they had a lot to talk about; Their breakup, the grounds for their relationship now, what she meant when she said she wanted to take things slow and especially about William, now that his son was living with him. He _knows_ that they need to talk, that it’s long overdue and that they should settle their issues before trying to moving forward.

He knows but he’s in love with her and he couldn’t tolerate the idea of spending another moment without her.

“Would you like to go to dinner with me?”

The words are out of his mouth before he’s had a chance to think it through. It’s probably for the best though because seconds later, the anxiety begins to set in especially when the he sees the moment his question registers. Her eyes widen slightly behind her glasses and her fingers that are still on his arm tighten.

He tries to wait patiently as she processes what he’s asking. Uncertainty overwhelms him when she takes far too long and he’s just about to apologize or rephrase or something when she speaks up.

“Dinner?” she asks, her voice soft as though she’s afraid that if she spoke any louder, the moment would be over, “As in a date?”

For a moment, he’s transported back to two years ago when they’d had a similar conversation and how badly it had ended. God, he had been so stupid to think he could’ve pushed her away when he knew he was already irrevocably in love with her.

“Yes,” he nods and reaches up to remove her hand from his arm and tangle his fingers through hers, “At least, I hope so.”

Her gaze drops to their intertwined hands before shifting back to him, her expression calculating. He meets her gaze steadily, giving her whatever she might be looking for from him.

Finally, she smiles.

“I’d love to.”

**Author's Note:**

> When i started writing this, the whole point was the actual date itself but the intro got too long and it didn't feel right to continue from where it ended. So maybe I'll write a second part or I might just leave it as it is. I haven't decided yet so I'll just leave it as complete for now. 
> 
> I've had multiple ideas for season 6 but my muse is an asshole that strikes and then disappears the moment I try to write it down. So I've procrastinated and... yes. I'm not totally happy with this fic either but I needed to post it because not only is the season gonna air (yay), but I felt like I probably would've just given up on writing if I hadn't.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading!


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